


The Trap

by Nyx (nyxmidnight)



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Complete, Frottage, Intercrural Sex, M/M, No Spoilers, Porn With Plot, Pre-Game(s), Sex Pollen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-06-03 19:40:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6623647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyxmidnight/pseuds/Nyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the spores of a deadly fungus are released on the battlefield during a battle between Nohr and Hoshido, the crown princes Xander and Ryoma must learn to live with the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trigger

**Author's Note:**

> I'm only on Chapter 9 of Conquest and I am totally unspoiled for this game but this... thing has seized control of my mind. I can't stop writing. Send help.

The explosion of pink dust caught both Xander and Ryoma by surprise, right before Xander's horse threw him off in fright and high tailed straight out the battlefield.

"Xander!!!" Elise cried out as her brother landed on his back, which knocked the wind of out him despite his armour. "I'll go get help!!!" She was off the battlefield as fast as her horse could take her, followed by Camilla, whose wyvern would have only made thing worse had she attempted a rescue.

"Me too!!!" came Sakura's voice as she climbed behind her sister on her pegasus, taking off to go get reinforcements, not caring that she had basically agreed with a Nohrian. The situation was dire.

For an agonizing minute, Xander laid there, unable to move; unable to breathe. He knew Ryoma was right there, thanks to his coughing, and knew he would be getting ready to land the killing blow if he didn't recover quickly and crawl out of the spore cloud. He could hear Leo shouting at him, but the feeling of constriction in his chest was the only thing his attention would focus on.

The sacred blade of the Hoshidan prince missed his head by a mere inch, just before the prince himself landed on top of him, snarling even as he crushed his mouth against Xander's in a mockery of a kiss.

"You planted this here, Nohrian scum!" Ryoma spat at him even as his fingers ran over Xander's armour, looking for clasps to undo to get to his skin.

"You... really think I'd step... into my own trap?" Xander panted back, catching his breath, breathing in more of the spores surrounding them despite his best efforts to cover his nose and mouth. "It's a Hoshidan fungus anyway!" he barely had time to wheeze out before Ryoma was knocking his breastplate aside and tearing the clothes underneath.

"Liar! Only a prince of Nohr would use such a underhanded attack," Ryoma growled as he tossed Xander's shirt over his shoulder. "You have no shame," he hissed as he grabbed Xander by the throat before kissing him hard, plunging his tongue into his enemy's mouth.

Finally able to breathe normally, Xander grabbed Ryoma by the hair and yanked him closer, groaning as his tongue fought back against the intrusion. As much as it disgusted him, the fire in his lungs, in his head, in his loins, was in control of his and Ryoma's actions, but he was not about to let the Hoshidan prince have the upper hand in this.

"Get your filthy hands off my brother!!!" Leo howled, dark magic energy gathering around him as he stood in his stirrups to attack the Hoshidan prince. His concentration was broken before he could cast, however, by an arrow to the shoulder courtesy of another Hoshidan princeling.

"If you lay even a finger on my brother, Nohrian scum, I will turn your head into a pincushion!!!" Takumi warned as he grabbed another arrow from his quiver and took aim at Leo.

"Gods!!!"

Under the horrified gaze of their siblings unable to help them without risking life, limb and sanity, they continued kissing with great force even as they fought, neither wanting to yield for the other. The fire inside them continued to grow in intensity as they breathed more and more spores in, irrationally refusing to leave the contaminated area. They were vaguely aware of screams from the battlefield, barely acknowledging the voices as belonging to Leo of Nohr and Takumi of Hoshido, unable to focus on anything but the devouring heat that was only soothed by the physical contact of another warm body.

Soon, they were both naked, partly by their own hands but mostly by the other's, their hypersensitive skin unable to tolerate armour or clothing any longer. The pink dust clung to their sweaty skin, giving the princes a rosy hue all over even as they struggled for dominance over the other. They looked ridiculous, they knew it well; but to their great shame, they could not separate without the searing pain in their whole body getting unbearable.

A thrust of Ryoma's hips made their cocks align and rub against the other, making Xander inhale sharply. "Surrender, Hoshidan, or else I—"

"Or else what, Nohrian?" Ryoma growled back despite becoming light-headed from the friction of Xander's whole body against his own and from his heart beating too fast, too hard. "You'll kiss me again?" He pre-empted the attack by kissing Xander first, clinging to the other's head. The sweet taste of the pink coating the inside of Xander's wet mouth was sickening by now, and yet, he still craved it, licking it off the inside of his cheeks and the roof of his mouth.

Xander leaned toward Ryoma when the latter broke the kiss, sporting a grimace despite looking for all the world like he wanted more. "I refuse to die with you like this!"

"So do I!" Ryoma shouted right back at him despite his heart slamming against his ribcage. He knew all too well that this terrible fungus could kill with ease by making the heart explode, and the terror in the back of his mind at the idea was not helping anything. But he refused to back down in front of his sworn enemy. He would not be the weak one.

"Brother!!!" Sakura cried out as she ran back onto the field, followed by a small army of experienced Wind mages. This battlefield being closer to Hoshido, they had reinforcement closer than the Nohrians did. "We'll rescue you!!!"

As much as his body refused to be separated from Xander, Ryoma felt great relief flood over him as the mages dispersed the spores. It didn't heal him nor quench the fire inside of him, but it gave him just enough clarity to inch toward the rescue party with Xander in tow.

"Oh no you will not!!!" Leo charged up his magic again. Takumi, however, was already locked and loaded. The arrow narrowly missed Leo's head, and more soldiers were rushing in to aid Takumi. Leo would have given his life for his siblings, but dying here would have only been a waste of his life in a hopeless battle. "This is not over yet!" he threatened as he kicked in horse into a gallop toward the nearest Nohrian outpost.

Takumi grimaced at the sight of his naked brother, with pink and dirt smeared all over him, barely able to crawl in his direction, dragging his enemy along like a child drags his favourite toy around. He raised his bow again. Not nearly enough Nohrian blood had been spilled to avenge the humiliation endured by Ryoma yet. "Brother! Leave that Nohrian scum to die! He doesn't deserve any help!"

"Stand down, Takumi!" Ryoma wheezed, clutching at his chest. "We can use—" He didn't get to finish before collapsing half on top of Xander. The last thing he heard was Sakura screaming.


	2. First Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryoma can't sleep, and neither can Xander.

Ryoma was grateful that one of the perks of being the crown prince of Hoshido was having his own personal room to sleep in. He wouldn't have wanted to be so erect around his brothers and sisters, especially not after the unfortunate events of the morning.

Sighing, he rose and headed for the restroom, again. It was futile: he had been manipulating and stroking himself for what felt like hours already without achieving release yet. This trip was no different, and he let himself fall seated next to the squat toilet to look up at the moon in the night sky, defeated and in pain from this arousal that would not leave him.

Was this supposed to happen? How long would this torture last? He had been scrubbed raw with salt water in a small room with the air pungent with the smell of incense to be rid of the foul spores, but it seemed their curse would not end this easily.

As he returned to his room, his gaze got caught again by the sight of the small above-ground window of the palace's prison, across the great court. He had ordered the Nohrian be treated as well. A crown prince from his enemies' side was too precious to simply execute or leave to die. Was he affected by this condition as well? Survivors of this fungus attack were rare and the effects of it, aside from the initial loss of inhibition and common sense, were not very well known.

Perhaps, then, it was time to pay his prisoner a visit.

* * *

"What do you want?"

Xander was awake at this time of the night, but it was no surprise as to why when Ryoma got closer: the simple Hoshidan robe wrapped around the Nohrian had a very obvious bulge in it, and since his hands were chained to the stone wall at shoulder level, he could do nothing to hide it. So he was affected too.

Ryoma swallowed. He would never admit it out loud, but yes, the sight made his mouth water. As shameful as the experience of the morning had been, the part of him tainted by the fungus still remembered, still yearned for that physical contact. "The same thing you do, I'm afraid."

A snort. "I highly doubt you want to let me free."

"You're right." Ryoma unwrapped the cloth around the bundle in his hand to reveal a flask of oil.

Xander's jaw visibly tensed. "Is that how you treat prisoners, Prince of Hoshido?"

Leaving the cloth behind, Ryoma stepped forward and reached out for the sash around Xander's waist, undoing it with practised ease. "It's how I intend to treat you, Xander of Nohr," he said as the sash pooled at Xander's feet and the robe parted to reveal his prisoner's skin already glistening with a fine sheen of sweat, and his erection already a deep red, veins bulging at the surface. He felt a pang of pain in his groin in sympathy. "I don't intend to hurt you."

"Only to shame me, then."

"Don't be so dramatic." Ryoma let out a sigh as he let his own robe part, showing Xander how hard he was. "You might need this release even more than I do."

Xander could only glare. Ryoma was right; touching himself was impossible the way his wrists were shackled to the wall, and, though the spores had been scrubbed off him roughly, he had not forgotten the prince's body against his own and the intoxicating taste of the prince's tongue in his own mouth. He shuddered in disgust. "This does not make us allies."

"Of course not," was Ryoma's answer before he pressed his groin against Xander's and drizzled some oil over their joined cocks.

Xander drew a breath through his teeth and threw his head back, losing control as soon as Ryoma began moving against him. "Gods!!!" But despite his seed splattering against Ryoma's torso nearly up to his shoulder, his erection didn't falter at all, and he squirmed as Ryoma grabbed his hips to rut against him.

"No god should have allowed this blasted fungus to exist," Ryoma groaned, grabbing their cocks and squeezing them together as he humped his sworn enemy like a dog in heat. The more he ground against Xander, the more he felt his mind becoming clouded; he tried to stop, but found he could not. The feeling of pleasure, of finally reaching his peak, prevented him from backing out of this insane situation. He could only ride the tsunami threatening to overtake him along with a moaning and cursing Xander.

When the haze of orgasm cleared, he found himself with one hand clutching Xander's hair, seeking the sickeningly sweet taste of intoxication inside Xander's mouth with his tongue.

And not only was Xander welcoming him in, he was reciprocating as well.

Shocked, Ryoma pulled out of the wet kiss, trying to take stock of the situation. Xander was glaring at him, as much as a man could glare through the fog of those thrice damned spores and the comfort of afterglow; he was holding onto Xander's right asscheek possessively, forcing Xander's leg up and his foot off the ground; their torso were a mess of slippery oil and sticky seed mixed and smeared everywhere in lewd abstract patterns.

"Let go of me," Xander commanded in a low voice.

Ryoma did and took a few steps back, picking up the cloth that had been wrapped around the flask from the ground. He vaguely remembered hearing the flask breaking against the wall when he had discarded it in the middle of their sexual frenzy, but there was no time to look for it now. Using the soft cloth, he wiped himself clean, relieved to see his cock had returned to its usual flaccid state, then draped his robe back into place and tied the sash around his waist. 

Wit that done, he folded the cloth over and stepped up to the Nohrian prince. As Xander watched, lips tight, Ryoma gave his front a quick wipe, removing most of the evidence of their time together before he wrapped the robe around Xander's body and secured it in place with the sash.

Both princes stared the other down for a long, uncomfortable moment, Ryoma's hands still resting on Xander's waist. Neither knew what to think. To tell the truth, they were afraid, afraid this hunger would continue to plague them. But Ryoma had pressing matters to attend in the morning, unlike Xander, so he was the one to break the unarmed standoff with an irritated sigh, slamming the cell door closed on his way back to his bedroom.


	3. End of Honeymoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The effects of the spores are diminishing... why, then, does Ryoma continues to visit Xander at night?

"You're filthy!" It came out more like an accusation than Ryoma intended.

"And yet, you're aroused."

Xander knew very well that Ryoma had not come to him in the middle of the night out of concern for his state of cleanliness. A long few days had passed since his last visit already. He thought he would be free of the effects of the spores by now, but as his dreams and idle thoughts could attest to, he was not. And he suspected it was exactly the same for the other man.

Ryoma hesitated. He was aroused; no doubt about that. Had the roles been reversed, the Nohrian prince might have liked the smell of his sweat and unkept body and hair. Ryoma was more, let's say, civilised. And he didn't want Xander's stench rubbing off on him. There was therefore only one thing to do. He stood and left.

Xander watched Ryoma leave, surprised. He hadn't expected him to give up so easily. He was almost disappointed, even. He had been hoping for relief before things became as dire as they had been on the battlefield. He flexed his hands and rolled his painful shoulders, wrists shackled to the wall as before.

He was startled out of his idle thoughts by the door to his cell opening again. Leo? No, not Leo, he realised as he saw the mass of hair sported by the intruder. Ryoma was back, and carrying something heavy. He shook his head when he realised Ryoma had brought one of those large wood buckets for the bath, filled with water. That must not have been very discreet. "You're insane."

Ryoma set the bucket down. "And you stink." 

In no time, Ryoma had Xander exposed before him, realising for the first time the other prince had more body hair than he did. This detail bothered him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why it did.

"Not good enough anymore?" Xander laughed, though he hoped that wasn't the case; despite his certainty that he was more useful as a live hostage than as a dead prince, he still wanted, craved the touch of the other prince, the skin to skin contact that made his mind go blank. He knew it was the spores talking, but by the gods he could not shut that part of his mind off.

"Hmpf. You'll still do for now," Ryoma replied with a smirk before grabbing the wet cloth floating in the water, hesitating before starting to clean Xander's face. What was he doing? It's not like he had cared about Xander's state (or stench) before. Gods, when the spores first hit he had even done it in front of his brother Takumi! Were the spores making him more sensitive? Making him _care_ about the Nohrian prince?! Revolting!

And yet, here he was, wiping Xander's jaw clean and trying to resist the urge to kiss the blond stubble above his upper lip before devouring his mouth again.

"I dare hope this curse will wear off soon," Xander spoke in a low voice, leaning ever so slightly forward.

"It must," Ryoma whispered in response before succumbing to temptation and pressing his lips to Xander's upper one. The stubble scratched his lips, but he did not care; rather, he parted his lips and ran his tongue over Xander's lips. Xander reacted by opening his mouth to touch his tongue with his, and it was like the battlefield all over again. There were no spores nor sweet taste inside Xander's nor Ryoma's mouth, and yet, given how their tongues played against the other and they devoured each other's mouth, an observer could have sworn there was.

An observer like Takumi.

"I should get the oil," Ryoma asked when the broke the kiss, breathless.

Xander let out a displeased noise despite his burning cheeks. As much as he enjoyed not being chafed or sore in the morning, a nagging sharpness in the haze was pointing out that telling the other prince to yes, please, get him oiled up meant consenting to this madness.

"Are you not hard enough?" Ryoma cupped Xander's balls in his warm hand and gave them a gentle squeeze, making Xander's breath catch in his throat. He was about to make a quip about Xander's age when the other prince interrupted him with a loud groan.

"Hurry up already," was Xander's gruff answer, his sanity drowned in the remains of the spores.

Takumi decided he had witnessed enough and slipped back into the shadows.

Ryoma let go of Xander, but it took him a few moments more to tear himself from his warm body to get the oil, returning as fast as his feet would take him to plaster himself against Xander, craving his body heat and presence despite the fact that he still had to clean the man.

"Ugh, gods." He wrinkled his nose even as he poured oil in his hand to make it slick. His grip on sanity was getting more solid, but not enough to let him walk out of this cell and never come back. "We have got to find a better way."

"Let go of me and I will go bathe myself," Xander said before biting down the moan threatening to escape him as Ryoma wrapped his slick hand around their dicks.

"Yeah, in Nohr I bet." As much as getting rid of Xander was appealing, he had gained a sure-fire advantage over Nohr by 'capturing' the crown prince. Letting him go would be madness. "Not about to let you do that."

Xander's biting reply never made it past his lips. With Ryoma stroking them together, it was as if the cursed infection was spreading anew, shutting down his rational mind and lighting a fire in his entire being. Nothing mattered now except their cocks rubbing against the other and Ryoma's solid body pressed against his as if they could meld together. He even rested his head, as much as he could, on Ryoma's shoulder as the other prince hurried them to orgasm.

Soon, however, he was groaning in frustration, feeling the heat plateau in him before he managed to come. Judging from Ryoma's equally frustrated noise rising from his throat, he wasn't the only one. "Am I not doing it for you anymore?" he asking in a mocking tone.

"Exactly." Ryoma wiped his sweaty upper lip with the back of his hand, then poured more oil on his other hand, sliding it around Xander to reach his ass, slick fingers wasting no time plunging in the cleft between the cheeks.

"No!" That shocked Xander enough to break through the haze. He slammed back against the wall, trapping Ryoma's hand between it and his back to keep it from descending further.

"OW!" Who knew Xander had such a hard tailbone? "What's wrong with you? Don't you want release?"

Xander glared daggers at Ryoma, a sharp contrast with his cock ready to burst. "I swear to the gods, if you enter me, when Nohr marches in triumph into Hoshido I will have you impaled."

Ryoma, still under the influence, merely raised his eyebrows at the threat. "Gods, you're so dramatic." In fact, on that day, if his siblings had not come to help when they had, he probably would have climbed on top of Xander and rode him. Or done some impaling of his own, whichever would have happened first. But now that he'd seen Xander's reaction to the idea, he wasn't about to turn around and let Xander have him. He refused to appear weak in front of his enemy, even when his entire being felt like if he left now he would die without Xander pressed against him. "Fine." He pulled his hand back without much difficulty. "Close your legs." When Xander did not comply, he growled. "Do you want to get this act done with already or do you enjoy my presence that much?"

With a huff, Xander pressed his legs together. "Hoshidan fuck?"

Royma snickered. "Ha! We call it the Nohrian greeting." Thrusting forward, he slipped his hard cock still slick with oil between Xander's muscular thighs. Xander's skin was smooth there, and warmer than the rest of his body. Ryoma panted against the crook of Xander's neck as he fucked the Nohrian prince's thighs with wild abandon, his hands stroking his sides up and down, feeling the muscles under the skin tighten and tremble with contained laughter. So the Crown Prince of Nohr was ticklish. Not that Ryoma really cared right now, focused entirely on his own pleasure burning within him.

Xander let out a high pitched whine when Ryoma came between his legs, making a mess of his thighs and leaving him hanging on the very edge of orgasm as he pulled out, his heat satisfied. "Touch me," he ordered the other prince. He was so close, a single touch might satisfy him.

When he saw the Hoshidan recoil and wrap his robe around him, looking troubled, the haze controlling his mind left him feel betrayed and cold, so cold. "Don't you dare." Was he really panicking at the thought of the other prince leaving him to rot here unsatisfied, or were the spores still able to mess with his heartbeat?

Ryoma just stared at the white evidence of what he had done trickling down between Xander's thighs, not answering. For a moment there, he had felt... very satisfied to have marked the Nohrian prince with his seed.

Smug, even.

Proud.

He didn't want to feel that way.

He didn't want to be a barbarian taking pleasure in defiling his enemy. He was so shocked he even considered, for a second, freeing Xander and kicking him out of his palace, of his kingdom, of his life, never mind the consequences.

And he reeked, gods, did he ever reek. Reeked of sex and sweat, reeked like he hadn't bathed in a week. Reeked of Xander.

Feeling suddenly sick, he spun around and ran for the exit despite the Nohrian prince's indignant screams.

He needed a bath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still hard at work on this, and it's going pretty well! I'm thinking more and more about making a zine with this, though... any thoughts?


	4. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bath time.

The baths were mercifully deserted at this hour of the night. Still, Ryoma couldn't get undressed fast enough for his taste, as he tossed his clothes on a bench in the changing area and hurried to the nearest cleaning station to scrub himself raw.

Takumi had never seen his own brother act in such a pathetic manner, and it sickened him. Still, he undressed before approaching him, so he would not suspect foul play right off the bat. "Brother," he called out as he emerged from the changing room wrapped in a towel, startling Ryoma.

"Takumi! What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Brother," Takumi answered, containing his anger for now. "Can't sleep?"

"Yes. The nights get hot at this time of year."

Takumi nearly vomited at the innuendo. Somehow, he managed to get close to his brother and grab the comb to help him with his magnificent mane without punching him. "I know what you mean."

Ryoma nodded and relaxed, letting his brother comb his thick hair without moving.

"After all, you spend your nights with your _Nohrian whore_."

Ryoma straightened right up at that, freezing in place. "I'm not—"

"Don't even try!" Takumi grabbed a fistful of Ryoma's hair and yanked hard. "I've seen you both and your sick little game! Why are you still debasing yourself with that... that filthy, worthless garbage!!!"

Ryoma couldn't turn to look at Takumi, but he heard the fury in his voice loud and clear. It stung like salt on a fresh wound to hear Takumi accuse him of debasing himself, especially given how he had marked Xander earlier. "The spores—"

"Isn't that over yet?! Just kill him and be done with it! Leave him to rot! The lowest peasant of Hoshido would be a better fit for you than that Nohrian! You can have anyone! Why _him_?!"

"Takumi, you're hurting—"

"No, _you_ are hurting the very dignity of the family!" He punctuated his shouts with another yank. "What would Mother say if she knew?! Hinoka? Sakura??? Watching you rut like an animal with that rabid dog was hard enough already without a repeat performance! Get rid of him!"

"Takumi, Takumi..." Ryoma called out in a soothing voice, reaching back to untangle his brother's fist from the hair at the base of his skull. "I'm sorry..."

"'Sorry' is not what I want you to be! Get rid of him or so help me gods I will do it for you and send the pieces to his smirking brother!"

"Takumi!" Ryoma shouted with authority. It barely shook Takumi, but it did make him let go of his hair. Takumi resented any time Ryoma used the elder brother authority on him, and this time was no exception. He had not called Ryoma filth to his face yet, but by the gods he wanted to right now.

"Takumi." Ryoma turned to face Takumi, sitting on his heels like him, and bowed his head. "I'm sorry you had to witness that."

"Tch. You're more sorry you got caught!" Takumi spat.

"No. I am truly sorry you had to see me in that state. Then, and now. I never intended to hurt Mother, Hinoka, or Sakura. And especially not you, little brother." He paused. "The power of this fungus... it's overwhelming. Even though I don't want to submit, it invades my entire being. It makes me do things I abhorr with... a man I despise. Trust me, Takumi, nothing would please me more than to be rid of this invasion inside me. But it seems I still need more time and more cleansing."

"Takumi," he continued, moving closer, almost close enough for their bent knees under their towels to touch. "I cannot ask you to understand what I don't understand myself. I can only ask for your patience and your discretion."

Takumi exhaled loudly, arms crossed over his chest. "I still want to punch you."

Ryoma smiled a bit. "I might deserve it."

"You entirely deserve it."

* * *

Xander's loud breathing in the cell was like the warning growls of a trapped beast seeing the hunter return. He was still hard as his sword, drenched in sweat, and smelled disgusting.

"I hope that hurts," he growled at Ryoma when the other prince came close enough for him to see the bruise blooming at the corner of his lips and over his cheek.

"It does, thank you for your concern." Ryoma picked the cloth from the now cold water in the bucket, eyeing Xander in the dim light. Another trip to the bath to warm the water would be dangerous. He had no choice but to use the water he had now. "Hold still."

Xander hissed at the contact of the cold cloth to the skin of his shoulder nonetheless, glaring at Ryoma. "If you think this is going to get me to forgive you..."

"I'm not doing this to earn your forgiveness," Ryoma said calmly, running the cloth over Xander's torso and back. "I'm doing this because you still stink."

"Then I strongly suggest you hurry up and start begging."

"Why? I came back, didn't I?" He returned from rinsing his cloth to wash Xander's lower body with and very narrowly avoided Xander's kick. "You're welcome, by the way."

Xander snarled at him. "You can suck my..."

Ryoma grabbed Xander's cock at the base and squeezed, hard, to the point of pain. Yes he felt bad for treating his prisoner like a thing to be used and not a person, but Xander was trying his patience. "Stop struggling," he ordered the squirming prince, "or I might leave you hanging again."

It did make Xander stop trying to kick him in the face, but it did not make Xander look any happier. If anything, it pissed him off even more. He didn't want to be grateful for the bath. He didn't want to be grateful for the upcoming release. He hated himself and Ryoma and that blasted fungus for making him into a toy, a plaything for the Hoshidan prince.

He nearly screamed when something wet and warm touched the tip of his erection. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or disappointed when he looked down and saw Ryoma cleaning the head under the foreskin with the cloth warmed by the cleaning of his legs. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm not sucking on this thing before washing it."

"That was an expression, you—!" The kiss Ryoma gave the wet tip knocked the wind out of Xander. Having been left to simmer all alone with only the spores to keep his aroused body and mind company, he was still unpleasantly close to the edge, having not been able to take care of himself thanks to his shackles. His hips surged forward but Ryoma moved back so that even as far as Xander could get from the wall, Ryoma's touch was still only a mere tease.

Moaning, Xander looked down at his tormentor, mouth open in an attempt to catch his breath. Despite being on his knees, Ryoma was smiling up at him, a hand on his shaft just below the crown, mercilessly still.

"How about _you_ beg," Ryoma suggested, turning the Nohrian prince's earlier threat right back around.

To his great shame, Xander came undone right there at Ryoma's words, squeezing his eyes shut to not see the Hoshidan prince triumph over him. He felt like he was coming for minutes on end and would have collapsed when relief finally washed over him had he not been shackled to the wall. He barely reacted when Ryoma pulled him in for a kiss, panting against the other prince's lips right until he felt a weird taste hit his tongue. He yanked his head back, nearly hitting the wall, and spat on the floor reflexively, grimacing as he recognized his own salty taste.

"Now am I forgiven?"

"Get out," Xander let out between short breaths.


	5. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This can't go on forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AS PROMISED here is the next chapter!

Xander had seen Ryoma with lots of different expressions in the past month; most that he would have rather never witness. The somber look that Ryoma had now that Xander was awake was not especially pleasant either. "Explain yourself," Ryoma ordered in a tone that did not bode well.

Xander scratched his head, then stood, looking down at Ryoma despite the other Prince wearing boots and his being barefooted. "About what, Prince of Hoshido?"

"The diplomatic team I had sent to Nohr came back today. Or should I say the diplomat I had sent to Nohr came back white as a sheet after his team and guards were slaughtered by the Nohrian army."

Weird. He had expected Ryoma to be mad at him, even if he could do little to appease King Garon's fury from his prison. "Are you really surprised?"

"No." Ryoma's expression was one of concern.

Xander hated it.

"My envoy told me that King Garon declared having no son by the name Xander," Ryoma continued, slightly slower as if to be understood clearly. Or as if to soften the blow.

There was a beat. Xander held Ryoma's gaze and took in a breath. "Are you really surprised?"

That didn't seem to sit well with Ryoma. "Then is your presence a trap? Are you a spy? A decoy? Did you plant the cursed fungus on the battlefield for me to trigger?"

"Gods please, why would I charge into my own trap, especially to end up with you of all people!"

"Then help me understand! Why is your own father denying even knowing you?!" Ryoma knew King Garon was a sore on the face of the planet. He knew he had killed the Hoshidan king, his father, using a cowardly trap. He knew he had kidnapped Kamui to raise as his own as a weapon against Hoshido, undoubtedly. He knew some members of his diplomatic team might not make it back alive. But this... to deny the existence of his eldest son, his own flesh and blood, he just... that was beyond Ryoma. He just couldn't wrap his head around that level of cruelty.

Xander just looked at him, his jaw tight. "Why are you so surprised?" he finally asked, slowly, carefully, to keep his voice from breaking. He was used to looking cool while the walls crumbled. The trick was to keep breathing.

At that, Ryoma's arms just fell to his side, a look of even more complete incomprehension on his face as his jaw hung open. "Wh-why..."

Xander's gaze drifted to the side. He swallowed as he looked away, jaw clenched and lips pressed together. "Leave me be now," he said before lowering his lashes.

"Xander..."

"Don't!" Xander spat, louder. "I don't need your pity!"

Ryoma retreated without a word.

* * *

A very irritated sigh left Xander's lips as he spied Ryoma opening the door to his cell in the shadows. "Is pity fueling your need?"

An equally irritated sigh came from Ryoma as he entered. "I swear it's the cycle of the moon."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Right. Go play with yourself, Hoshidan. I'm in no mood for this."

Ryoma looked at Xander in the pale light of the moon, how it gave a slight yellowish tone to the skin of his face, how it lit his golden hair. "I'm not here out of pity."

"What else, then? I know the spores are not as strong as they used to be."

Ryoma stepped in front of Xander, looking at him with the same somber look as the day before. That did not bode well.

"My mother's council highly recommends that I have you executed."

If it seemed to trouble Ryoma, it troubled Xander even more so, though he was not really surprised at this turn of event. "I have ceased being useful, I see."

Ryoma nodded. "The whole castle is still shaken over the diplomacy failure. People are angry. Understandably so. You cost us skilled diplomats and soldiers. They had families. Now that King Garon wants nothing to do with you, the council is of the opinion we should send you back to him. In pieces."

"I see." What a pathetic way to go: captured, humiliated and executed like a worthless peon. All this over a thrice damned, gods may burn, fungus. "When?" He was not shaking as he asked. Not at all.

"I am stalling the execution," Ryoma answered, stepping closer.

A small grin lifted the corner of Xander's lips. "Oh?"

"Shut up," Ryoma growled low in his throat, hands on Xander's lapels. "If I have you executed, Nohr will come at us like a plague from Hell. King Garon is just looking for an excuse to declare war." He glared at Xander. "I should have left you to die that day."

"Why didn't you? We would have avoided all this mess!" Xander growled back, baring teeth.

"I don't know!" Ryoma shouted just before Xander surged forward as much as his shackles and his shoulders would allow him to to kiss Ryoma on the mouth, bruising and desperate. Ryoma grabbed the other prince by the hair and kissed him back violently, some tongue, mostly teeth, as he slammed Xander back against the wall of his cell.

Xander didn't know how, but suddenly his wrists were free from the shackles and he was able to grab Ryoma and tear at his clothes in his haste to, he didn't know what exactly. Disrobe him? Strangle him? Fuck him? Fucking him sounded good right now.

Soon they were on the floor, biting at each other's neck and shoulders, digging their fingernails in the other's broad back in a vicious embrace, tasting and smelling blood. Xander grabbed Ryoma's hair and pulled his head way back to lick at the column of his throat, feeling Ryoma's adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed.

"Please," Ryoma groaned, and Xander shut him up with another brutal kiss as they writhed together, Xander's hips thrusting hard against Ryoma's. They both came as they broke the kiss for air, Xander collapsing on top of Ryoma, unable to keep himself up over him with the way his arms and legs trembled with exhaustion.

Dazed, Ryoma lay on the floor with the other prince on top of him, not letting go of his embrace, not even when he felt Xander's quiet, shaky puffs of breath against his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Here's the plan: I've decided against adding another chapter before the CLIMACTIC ENDING because it would just be filler and slow the story to a crawl.
> 
> What I'm gonna do instead is put the ending in writing and THEN write an epilogue :D
> 
> So yes that means there are 2 chapters left! Look forward to them!


	6. End of Captivity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you need to lose a battle to win a war.

The Nohrian siblings’ plot went off without a hitch.

Ryoma had seen to it.

As soon as he had gotten wind of Xander's brother and sisters on the move toward his palace with no one but their retainers as support, he had known what they were coming for, and why.

Which is why he had ordered all outposts on their paths that could be reached to stand their ground but otherwise let them through.

The Nohrians moved quickly, with surprisingly little carnage or spillage of blood, confirming Ryoma's theory.

If King Garon did not want his Crown Prince back, his royal children obviously did not share his opinion.

Ryoma also knew they had a known thief in their ranks, so while he ordered the prison to be kept locked, he made sure the prisons guards were safely away to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.

Prince Xander's abduction was, therefore, quick and easy. His siblings had clearly no other plan in mind than extracting him from his Hoshidan prison and bringing him home.

As Ryoma had suspected, the moment they had Xander out of the castle and up on Princess Camilla's wyvern with her, they all took off again, back to where they came.

Saizo was, as always, at his side while he watched the Nohrians disappear into the night.

"Milord." Saizo bowed his head. "My ninjas will make sure they leave without disturbing the people."

Ryoma nodded. Strategically, it might not have been the smartest move on the part of the Crown Prince of Hoshido. However, to Ryoma, it seemed like the _right_ move.


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The war has ended. Kingdoms are at peace, but is it also the case of their crown princes?

The peace negotiations at Izumo had been as a whole the most awkward political meetings Ryoma had ever attended, and he included on that scale any “diplomatic” discussion with King Garon or one of his envoys.

It was not because Crown Prince Xander was against the treaty. Far from it, in fact: they were both delighted and relieved to not have to wage a pointless war anymore, to finally let their respective kingdoms rest and heal after nearly a year of bloodshed.

It was just very difficult to look at such a noble and solemn man gracefully signing a document with the same quill that he had just used and remember that he had seen that very man naked and needy and out of his mind with arousal only a short year earlier.

It didn't come as very much of a surprise, then, when Xander joined him by the koi pond in the garden of Izumo Castle one night after the mandatory dinner banquet. In the dim glow of the half moon, he recognized the other prince, soon to be king, mainly through his impressive height, and, when Xander sat on the stone bench with him, by his scent.

The silence stretched between them, awkward and oppressing, until Xander spoke.

"I saw you staring."

That was not a surprise. Ryoma had stared a lot at Xander during these last two weeks, and he had caught Xander doing the same more than once.

"Do you... still feel it...?"

Ryoma took time to consider the question with care, bringing a hand to his chest. There was no need to start a second war. “I… am not certain. It’s become… like a very distant feeling.”

Xander might have been disappointed. Or maybe he had nodded in agreement. Ryoma did not know, because he could not bring himself to look at Xander. He was surprised he had been able to answer at all. His siblings had preferred to forget entirely about this episode of their elder brother’s life, and Ryoma assumed that Xander’s siblings had done the same.

“Prince Ryoma.”

Now he had no choice but to look up at Xander towering over him, even while seated. Xander leaning him closer shocked him, and he jerked back slightly, as Xander did when he saw Ryoma’s reaction. But. Ryoma wanted to know. He wanted to know if the longing inside and the twinge in his chest were mostly memories, or if his mind was still muddled by the spores. Judging from the fact that, when he leaned toward the other prince, the latter responded in kind, getting closer again, it seemed that he was not the only one with questions tonight.

The kiss felt natural. They had kissed so many times before. They knew the other’s lips, the other’s mouth. This time, however, the kiss was devoid of the overwhelming passion they had shared before. Ryoma felt no fog clouding his mind, no heat rising from his chest, no urge to climb on top of Xander and yank that Izumo kimono off him. It felt… strange. Artificial.

As Xander had initiated the kiss, he was the one to pull back first. Ryoma opened his eyes. Visibly, Xander was as unmoved by this kiss as he had been.

“I did not feel…”

Ryoma glanced at a koi fish swimming closer. “Neither did I.”

Xander let out a breath and nodded. That was a welcome relief. Finally, he could put that part of his life behind him.

“Perhaps we can rebuild our relationship on a new, more pleasant basis,” Ryoma said as he made eye contact with Xander again.

Xander responded with a tiny but genuine smile, the first time Ryoma had ever seen him do so, and it pleased him to see the Hoshidan prince a bit awestruck. “Perhaps we can, Prince Ryoma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING.
> 
> I apologize for not being faster with writing this. 2016 has been the worst year of my life, but I've made a few radical changes in the last 3 months, the biggest of which being quitting my abusive job, so things should get better in 2017.
> 
> I would like to thank my beta reader, Wolfsbride, for always being there for me since 1998 and helping turn my ESL English into fluent English; my friend Ally, for helping me with characterization and for fuelling the ideas furnace; and each and everyone of you who've read this fic, with a special mention to those who left kudos and an _extra special mention_ to those who have left a comment (or more than one)!
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS (or whichever holy day you celebrate around this time of year)!!!
> 
> See you in 2017!


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